The Commission on Capital Cases updates thisinformation regularly. This information; however, is subject to changeand may not reflect the latest status of an inmate’s case and should not berelied upon for statistical or legal purposes.
HUNTER, Jerone (B/M)
DOB: 05/31/86
Seventh Judicial Circuit, Volusia County Case #04-1380
Venue changed to St. Johns County on 05/12/06
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable William A. Parsons
Attorney, Trial: J. Edwin Mills – Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal: Ryan Thomas Truskoski – Private
Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Robert T. Strain – CCRC-M
Date ofOffense: 08/05/04
Date of Sentence: 09/21/06
Circumstances of Offense:
On the morning of August 6, 2004, Christopher Carrollarrived at 3106 Telford Lane in Deltona. He was there to pick up severalco-workers who lived at that address. Upon entering the home, he found blood andseveral dead bodies. Carroll then called 911. Deputy Anthony Crane and otherlaw enforcement officers arrived at the scene. They found the bodies of sixvictims: Erin Belanger, Jonathan Gleason, Francisco Roman, Roberto Gonzalez,Michelle Nathan, and Anthony Vega. They also found a deceased dog with acrushed skull. The dog was eventually identified as Belanger’s dachshund,George. Autopsies indicated that all of the victims died from blunt forcetrauma to the head, with some of the victims exhibiting post-mortem stabwounds.
Robert Cannon, one of the codefendants, testified that onAugust 5, 2004, Michael Salas, Troy Victorino, Brandon Graham, and JeroneHunter met at Victorino’s home. A few weeks prior to the murders, Victorino hadbeen squatting in a house owned by Belanger’s grandmother. Victorino believedthat Belanger had taken his Xbox and some of his other belongings from thehouse. Victorino said he wanted his belongings back. He also said that hewanted to use lead pipes to kill all of the individuals residing in the Telfordhome. Cannon, Salas, Victorino, Graham, and Hunter agreed to commit the murdersat 10:00 that night. Graham asked Cannon to drop him off at a friend’s house.Graham did not rejoin the group later that night and did not participate in themurders.
Crime scene technicians took photographs of shoe impressionsinside the house. The technicians also collected a knife handle, knife blade,and four metal bats from inside the house. One of the shoe impressions wasconsistent with a tennis shoe owned by Hunter. They also recovered a shoelacecontaining DNA from Hunter and the victim Gonzalez. Crime scene techniciansalso recovered evidence from Cannon’s vehicle. They found glass fragmentsthat matched a broken lamp from the Telford home. Sunglasses containing Roman’sfingerprints were also recovered from the vehicle.
Detective Lawrence Horzepa, of the Volusia County Sheriff’sOffice, interviewed Hunter on August 7, 2004. Hunter confessed to hisinvolvement in the murders. Hunter said that he hit Gleason and Gonzalez with abaseball bat repeatedly, although he was uncertain as to the exact number ofblows.
Horzepa also interviewed Salas. Salas confessed to hisinvolvement in the murders, and said that Hunter killed Nathan by stabbing herin the chest. He also said that he disposed of the murder weapons in aretention pond. The Sheriff’s Office dive team recovered the four baseball batsused in the murders from a pond in Debary, Florida.
Codefendant Information:
Robert Cannon pled guiltyto all charges in exchange for a life sentence.
Codefendant TroyVictorino received a death sentence. His direct appeal is currently pending inthe Florida Supreme Court.
Codefendant Michael Salaswas sentenced to life imprisonment.
Trial Summary:
08/27/04 Indicted as follows:
Count I: Obstruction of a Criminal Investigation
Count II: First-Degree Murder(Erin Belanger)
Count III: First-Degree Murder (FranciscoRoman)
Count IV: First-Degree Murder(Jonathan Gleason)
Count V: First-Degree Murder(Roberto Gonzalez)
Count VI: First-Degree Murder(Michelle Nathan)
Count VII: First-Degree Murder (Anthony Vega)
Count VIII: Abuse of a Dead Human Body
Count IX: Abuse of a Dead Human Body
Count X: Abuse of a Dead HumanBody
Count XI: Abuse of a Dead Human Body
Count XII: Abuse of a Dead Human Body
Count XIII: Armed Burglary
Count XIV: Cruelty to Animals
05/12/06 Venue was changed from Volusia County to St. Johns County.
07/25/06 Jury returned guilty verdicts for one count of Obstruction of a Criminal
investigation, six counts of First-Degree Murder, three counts of Abuse
of a Dead Human Body, and one count of Armed Burglary.
08/01/06 Jury recommended life without parole for the murder of Erin Belanger.
Jury recommended life without parole for the murder of Francisco Roman.
Jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2 for the murder of Jonathan Gleason.
Jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3 for the murder of Roberto Gonzalez.
Jury recommended death by a vote of 10-2 for the murder of Michelle Nathan.
Jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3 for the murder of Anthony Vega.
08/28/06 Sentenced as follows:
Count I: Obstruction of a Criminal Investigation – 5 years
Count II: First-Degree Murder –Life
Count III: First-Degree Murder – Life
Count IV: Abuse of a Dead Human Body– 15 years
Count V: Abuse of a Dead HumanBody – 15 years
Count VI: Abuse of a Dead Human Body– 15 years
Count VII: Armed Burglary – Life
09/21/06 Sentenced asfollows:
Count VIII: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count IX: First-Degree Murder – Death
Count X: First-Degree Murder –Death
Count XI: First-Degree Murder – Death
Appeal Summary:
Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal
FSC #06-1963
10/05/06 Appeal filed
09/25/08 Appeal denied
12/18/08 Mandate issued
United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ ofCertiorari
USSC #08-8821
01/21/09 Petition filed
04/20/09 Petition denied
Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion
CC# 04-1380
(Pending)
05/04/10 Motion filed
Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition ofSentence:
There have been no majordelays in the case at this time.
Case Information:
On 10/05/06, Hunter fileda Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court, citing the following issues:failure to suppress evidence, jury instructions, weight applied to aggravatingand mitigating factors, disproportionate nature of sentence, and theconstitutionality of Florida’s lethal injection and death-sentencing scheme.This appeal was denied on 09/25/08. A mandate was issued by the Florida SupremeCourt on 12/18/08.
On 01/21/09, Hunter fileda Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. Thispetition was denied on 04/20/09.
On 05/04/10, Hunter fileda 3.850 Motion with the Circuit Court. This motion is still pending.
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Report Date: 10/02/08 KLH
Approved: 10/13/08 KLH
Updated: 01/26/11 CAR